In-depth coverage of the MLS industry: lawsuits, policy, data and the fight over listings.
Antitrust suits, court rulings and legal fights involving MLSs, brokerages and portals. New to the issue? Start with our explainer: Compass vs. MLSs lawsuit tracker.
RSS for this sectionOneKey MLS becomes the eighth MLS to ask a court to shield it from Compass's threatened antitrust claims, joining the case California Regional MLS filed earlier this month. The New York MLS says the brokerage's threats go back as far as March.
New York's OneKey MLS signed on as a co-plaintiff in CRMLS's federal case against Compass, and the two MLSs filed an amended complaint in Manhattan federal court asking a judge to declare their clear cooperation rules lawful. OneKey points to months of emailed litigation threats from Compass leadership as the reason it joined.
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and executives Ashton Alexander and Cory Perkins have asked a court to throw out subpoenas issued by the National Association of Realtors in the PLS litigation. The executives argue the subpoenas are retaliatory and oppressive and are meant to discourage them from testifying.
California Regional MLS's CEO and general counsel responded publicly to the antitrust suit Compass filed against the MLS. According to the report, they argued that Compass's complaint itself raises questions about whether some of its agents are following NAR rules and California law.
An Inman report traces how Compass's demand letters to individual MLSs developed into multiple court cases. According to the report, at least nine MLSs, with roughly 272,000 combined subscribers and users, have rejected the brokerage's demands or gone to court; the central question is whether a brokerage can publicly market homes while keeping them out of the MLS.
The Council of Multiple Listing Services is setting up a legal action fund topping $1 million. The trade group says the money will support legal matters with significance for the wider MLS industry as lawsuits multiply.
Commentary from the Notorious R.O.B. blog discusses the lawsuit filed by ARMLS and other parties against Compass and the arguments in the complaint.
The Council of Multiple Listing Services is proposing a legal fund of more than $1 million to help MLSs push back against legal threats. The move comes less than a month after Compass CEO Robert Reffkin escalated demands that MLSs allow off-MLS marketing of listings.
The official announcement from the six plaintiff MLSs — ARMLS, bridgeMLS, Canopy MLS, Doorify MLS, Hive MLS and REcolorado — and their law firm, Robinson Bradshaw. The release frames the suit as a defense of rules requiring publicly marketed properties to be shared with all MLS participants, and says it was filed after Compass threatened to sue unless the MLSs stopped penalizing agents who skip MLS submission.
Arizona Regional MLS joined BridgeMLS, Canopy MLS, Doorify MLS, Hive MLS and REcolorado in a joint federal complaint filed Oct. 21 in the Southern District of New York. The six MLSs, representing more than 120,000 professionals, want a judge to declare their cooperation rules lawful under federal and state antitrust law and to bar Compass from suing over them, after Compass sent demand letters in September threatening litigation.
HousingWire's report on the joint suit by ARMLS, Bridge, Canopy, REcolorado, Hive and Doorify. Rather than wait to be sued, the MLSs are asking a court for an injunction and a ruling that their cooperation rules — and the limits they place on office exclusives — do not violate antitrust law.
Commentary from the Notorious R.O.B. blog reviews the arguments in Compass's lawsuit against CRMLS.
A breakdown of the federal antitrust case Compass filed against California Regional MLS on Oct. 16. Compass wants a judge to stop CRMLS from enforcing its mandatory submission policies, which the brokerage says violate antitrust law.
Compass sued the California Regional Multiple Listing Service in the Central District of California. According to the report, the brokerage had given CRMLS an Oct. 6 deadline to stop fining agents under its listing policies.
Compass filed an antitrust lawsuit against CRMLS over its listing rules. Compass also said it will cover MLS fines for agents at its company-owned brokerages who publicly market listings that are not submitted to the MLS.
Unlock MLS rejected Compass' demand to stop fining agents over office exclusives. Compass threatened a federal antitrust lawsuit if penalties continue. Fines include monetary penalties and suspension.
CRMLS's own announcement that it filed suit against Compass in the Southern District of New York on Oct. 5. After refusing Compass's demand to stop enforcing its cooperation policies, the MLS asked the court for a declaratory judgment that those policies are lawful.
At the CMLS Open House conference, MLS legal experts urged executives to plan for multiple scenarios around cooperation, participation and data access as demand letters and lawsuits pile up.